Chicken Jhola or Light Chicken Curry

Chicken Jhola is a very light Chicken curry for a busy weekday light dinners or a rush free weekend cooking. Somedays I don’t feel like cooking and cleaning. While I want the day to be stress free, takeouts are never in my mind. So, cooking something that’s light on tummy and made with ease is always a pleasure. Though the main ingredient is Chicken I cannot afford to cook it everyday greasy and spicy.

It was a lazy Sunday with a normal overcast of Seattle weather. It was packed up with the cleaning of entire house, changing sheets, doing laundry. And cooking was not at all in my mind today. But there was a little toddler hopping around with all his demands and the man of the house wanted something better as it’s a weekend and nothing more easy than this Chicken curry could come to my mind.

Light Chicken curry

I marinated the chicken for just 30mins and the cooked it for around 30 mins. This light chicken curry is best enjoyed the Indian way, either with few ghee smeared rotis or bowl of hot steamed rice or jeera rice. During winter this mild Chicken curry or stew is a pleasure and comfort and keeps cold at bay. Sometimes I add large chunks of Potatoes to make it more filling or wholesome but today I made it without them.

So here goes the recipe for the Chicken Jhola or Light Chicken curry:

Ingredients for Light Chicken Curry:

Chicken with bones – 1.5 lb closer to 680 gms

Onion – 1 medium sized

Tomato – 1 large

Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tbsp

Dry Red Chilies – 2 or 3, you can add or reduce based on the spice need

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Corriander seeds – 1 tsp

Bay Leaves – 1

Cinnamon stick – 1 medium sized

Cardamom Pods – 2

Sugar – 1 tsp

Salt – according taste

Ground Garam Masala – 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp

Red chilli Powder – 1tsp

Coriander Leaves – 1/2 bunch, finely chopped

Mustard Oil – 1.5 tbsp

Water – 2 cups

Steps of Preparation for Chicken Curry:

Marinate the Chicken with Turmeric Powder, Red chilli Powder and Salt and keep it aside for 30 mins.
Spices for marination

Marinated chicken

Make a course ground masala from the cubed onions, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and red chilies and keep it aside.
Making the ground masala

Ingredients

Puree the whole tomato.

Take a wide bottomed vessel, and heat for a minute or two.

Add Mustard oil, you can use your choice of oil and palate. I added for my pure Odia taste.

Adding the oil

To the hot oil, add the sugar, this is a bit of trick to make the gravy look bright red, it won’t make the curry sweet.

Sugar in the hot oil

Then add the whole garam masalas (bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods) and saute till the aroma is released to the oil.

Adding the whole spices

Now, add the coarsely ground masala and ginger garlic paste together and cook it till the oil separates and the raw smell of ginger, garlic and onion goes off. This nearly takes around 5-6 mins.
Adding the ground spices

Cooked spices

To the masala mixture add the tomato puree and cook till the oil separates.

Adding Tomato Puree

Add the marinated chicken and mix the cooked spices thoroughly and cover and cook in the medium flame for about 10-15 mins.
Mixing the chicken with the cooked MasalasCover and cook

Almost cooked chicken

Now roughly chop the half bunch of coriander leaves and add to the semi-cooked chicken. This adds the best flavor to the gravy.
Roughly chopped Coriander Leaves

Coriander Leaves added

Cook till the chicken is entirely done. You can add the amount of water you want based on the need of the gravy. But as I wanted a light curry. I added 2 cups of water and let it shimmer.

Adding water

Finally added the garam masala and cook for a minute.

Adding the Garam Masala to the final gravy

Chicken curry with ghee smeared rotis

Chicken Jhola or Light Chicken Curry

Author:

Shreemaa Bhadra

Recipe type:Main

Cuisine:Indian

Serves:4

Prep time:30 mins

Cook time:30 mins

Total time:1 hour

This light chicken curry is like a stew cooked in a gravy made up basic Indian kitchen ingredients like onion, ginger garlic and tomatoes, flavored with cumin, coriander and garam masala. Best when served with ghee smeared chapati or hot steamed rice or jeera rice.

Ingredients

Chicken with bones – 1.5 lb closer to 680 gms

Onion – 1 medium sized

Tomato – 1 large

Ginger Garlic paste – 1 tbsp

Dry Red Chilies – 2 or 3, you can add or reduce based on the spice need

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp

Corriander seeds – 1 tsp

Bay Leaves – 1

Cinnamon stick – 1 medium sized

Cardamom Pods – 2

Sugar – 1 tsp

Salt – according taste

Ground Garam Masala – 1 tsp

Turmeric Powder – 1 tsp

Red chilli Powder – 1tsp

Coriander Leaves – ½ bunch, finely chopped

Mustard Oil – 1.5 tbsp

Water – 2 cups

Instructions

Marinate the Chicken with Turmeric Powder, Red chilli Powder and Salt and keep it aside for 30 mins.

Make a course ground masala from the cubed onions, cumin seeds, coriander seeds and red chilies and keep it aside.

Puree the whole tomato.

Take a wide bottomed vessel, and heat for a minute or two.

Add Mustard oil, you can use your choice of oil and palate. I added for my pure Odia taste.

To the hot oil, add the sugar, this is a bit of trick to make the gravy look bright red, it won’t make the curry sweet.

Then add the whole garam masalas (bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cardamom pods) and saute till the aroma is released to the oil.

Now, add the coarsely ground masala and ginger garlic paste together and cook it till the oil separates and the raw smell of ginger, garlic and onion goes off. This nearly takes around 5-6 mins.

To the masala mixture add the tomato puree and cook till the oil separates.

Add the marinated chicken and mix the cooked spices thoroughly and cover and cook in the medium flame for about 10-15 mins.

Now roughly chop the half bunch of coriander leaves and add to the semi-cooked chicken. This adds the best flavor to the gravy.

Cook till the chicken is entirely done. You can add the amount of water you want based on the need of the gravy. But as I wanted a light curry. I added 2 cups of water and let it shimmer.